Behind the Mask
by zerxes96
Summary: Valerie thought she'd seen it all. That is, until she met the girl who died, and lived. (PP not canon)
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place near the Elmerton/Amity Park border. Told from Valerie's POV**

 **PP never happened**

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"What's your _real_ name?" It felt weird that I knew almost nothing about the half-ghost I risked my life trying to save two months prior.

Dani looked on to me, her eyebrows netted with confusion.

I remembered the first time we met in that alleyway. She was melting. What's more, she's half-ghost, half-human: the first one I'd ever seen. I could tell she had a complicated past, and that this was going to be an emotional conversation. I mustered up a slight smile and chuckled. "I mean, there's no way you and Phantom _really_ have the same name, right?"

"I'm a lab experiment gone wrong." One look at my face was all Dani needed to realize I wasn't sure what she meant. "Plasmius created me trying to make a second Danny. I'm only _Dani_ because I was the first clone that was self-aware." Her voice started to falter as tears built up around her eyes. "To make me feel like I meant something to him so I would follow him without questioning him."

My eyes widened. _This girl..._

I looked off into the distance at the modern landscape looming below us. A lot had changed since that run-in with Vlad. The bank had been integrated into the repair shop across the street, and there was a communication tower where the old bank once stood. All the small trees that had adorned the water facility across the street were cut down. The moonlight smoothly caressed the horizon, but wasn't quite enough to completely mask the faint white glow the girl adjacent me gave off.

It was hard to believe that this cheerful little girl lived through worse than I'd been through these past three years in almost half the time. Were all ghosts this emotionally stable? Or was Dani special that way?

I knew what it was like to grow up without a mother, but I at least had a loving father. A father who didn't abandon me, even after finding out I'd been risking my life hunting ghosts behind his back.

Dani didn't have that. Being labeled a failure the moment you're born? Vlad was a one crazed-up fruit loop. I turned back to the half ghost floating beside me. I started to wonder how many more _"_ Dani's" there were cast out in the world, all their energy being sapped away by the simple need of staying alive.

Come to think of it, the only time I saw Phantom was when he was fighting another ghost. Where did he go when he wasn't making the papers? I wondered if he had any secrets or things he'd wanted to tell me, but couldn't because I shot first and asked questions never.

 _There has to be something I can do to get Dani more in touch with her human side._

I reached into my backpack and pulled out a piece of origami. A rotating tetrahedron. "Here."

Dani looked at the tripod-shaped paper in her hands like it was a ghost...or I guess alien would be the next step up for her. "What...?"

"That's my birthday present to you. It's origami. My dad taught me how to make it when I was your age. Not really sure what ghost gals like, so..."

I pressed into the center of the paper tripod causing it to cave in, turning it into a triangular base with three pyramids propping it up.

Dani's face turned bright red and looked away in an attempt to hide it. "Today's not my birthday. I don't know when my birthday is," she stammered.

"It's today."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

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 **Reviews much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**As per guest's** **request and** **CatalystOfTheSoul's persuasion** **, here's a followup chapter.**

 **Wahboop, Monocheshaa, and** **CatalystOfTheSoul,** **I'm so happy this was just what the doctor ordered (^o^)**

 **Thank you Kimera20, Extreme Light 9, Oracle-sama, Neeko96, and the regular KuriMaster13 and christhehopper for your kind words/emojis!**

 **Takes place in Amity Park.** **Told from Valerie's POV, two days after the last chapter**

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Two on one. We had a good chance.

We were on a hill: the last patch of nature left in Amity Park after Vlad's "Modernization Movement." I'd pleaded with my dad around a week before to convince Vlad to leave it be. He eventually gave in and told Vlad that it was so close to Elmerton that the local government would feel threatened and shut him down, anyway.

The grass danced across my kneecaps like needles, or at least I _hoped_ that was grass...

In front of me was an open field enclosed by a circle of trees: where Dani and I were hiding separated.

I'd almost fallen asleep after remaining hidden for nearly fifteen minutes. The heat wasn't particularly oppressive, but every passing minute in it had done its part in piquing my fatigue. _I_ _t can't hurt to let my guard down a little._ I turned away and leaned back against the boulder I'd been peeking out from behind.

My eyes shot open to the sound of feet crushing leaves. A short sigh escaped my mouth.

I couldn't see my attacker approaching me from above, but could tell by the rhythm of their steps that they weren't about to lie down next to me and embrace the warmth of the sun. The moment I could see a patch of their black hair through my peripheral vision, I back-flipped over the rock and her and put up two finger guns. "Bam! Bam!"

It must've been quite a shock, because she fell backwards and landed on her butt.

I couldn't see Dani's face because her back was to me, but I imagined her wide-eyed and open-mouthed, like a child who'd just been told their older sibling had eaten the last chocolate pudding cup.

Before either of us could say anything, a shift in the open field stole both of our attentions. Our target glanced at the two of us, and ran behind one of the trees.

"I told you to create a diversion while I attacked," accused Dani, getting back up on her feet. "What good is a distraction _after_?"

We'd been trying to corner a rabbit for the last two hours, following it all the way from Elmerton to here. Dani almost had it trapped, but it got away after she'd lost her focus when I mistook her for the rabbit.

I lowered my weapons. "You never told me when you were going to strike! I was waiting for a signal, or something."

Dani just shock her head. "Honestly, the fact _you're_ one of the world's greatest ghost hunters boggles my mind."

I opened my mouth to retort, but decided mid-breath against it. Anything I said would just have been taken as an excuse.

Retort or not, a smirk peeked out from the side of Dani's lips.

There was rustling in the grass down the path I'd just taken. It didn't sound like human footsteps; it sounded like slithering. _Crap._ A snake. It was more after the Dani than myself, like it knew she'd put up less of a fight.

 _No one is dying unless I say so._ I slashed my hand in front of Dani and latched onto the snake's head. I'd never seen a snake before, so I didn't know what to do next. I threw it across the field in panic, expecting it to come lounging at us once more; it just slithered away.

"Thanks, Val, but you know snake bites don't affect me." Dani's voice had a hint of ridicule in it. She'd changed to her ghost form.

I'd actually forgotten. Around a month ago, Ghost Defense lessons were added into the Casper High curriculum. One of the lessons was on ghost anatomy. The ectoplasm coursing through Dani's veins helped fight off poison.

I flinched at the realization. That entire time, it didn't once occur to me that I was goofing off with a ghost.

My face probably turned red from the embarrassment: I could definitely feel the blood tightening my nose. I wondered if this is how Danny felt on the first day of Ghost Defense class.

Maybe all ghosts aren't that bad? I almost had myself convinced, until my eyes fixated on the stylized "D" on Dani's top. So long as I wasn't having tea with Phantom. I still couldn't bring myself to forgive him for ruining my life.

A moment of silence later, the slithering returned. The slight breeze carried a rabbit's cry. Dani and I frantically looked around for a white lump accentuating on the green grass. All we could find was the brown snake slithering away into the forest, a big lump in its throat. The rabbit was nowhere to be found.

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 **Reviews much appreciated!**

 **For events from the Ghost Defense lessons, check out my other phic, Embarrassment Ensues :P**

 **This is probably the last thing I'll be able to write before college starts next Monday, so sorry if I can't update as frequently as I have until now.**

 **Feedback much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**You can also find this told from Star's POV as Embarrassment Ensues Chapter 9**

 **I took TheLazyWhiteCat's recommendation and put my own little spin on it.**

 ** _Told from Valerie 's POV_**

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"Remember those new Ghost Defense lessons I was telling you about? I'm kinda the teacher, so I can do what ever I want."

"That's awesome," Dani started. "But why are you telling me this?"

"There's something I'd like you do help me with."

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From the corner of my eye, I saw Danny and his friends walking into class.

Sam stared daggers at me, though I'm not really sure why.

"Okay, then." I turned my attention to the class as a whole. "I have another demonstration I'd like to give today. What you're about to see may shock you, I know it shocked me when I first saw it."

I turned to Danny, who was clinging onto my every word, probably the only one in the class that was. "Hey, Danny! Come up here! I need you for another demonstration."

"You still have those Fenton Micro-Blasters on you," I asked.

Danny looked back at Sam and Tucker, then looked back at me. "Yeah," he said with a grin.

I turned my back to him and pulled out my ghost thermos.

I uncapped my thermos and the azure blast came out, but instead sucking a ghost in, Dani Phantom came out.

Danny was hysterical at the sight of her. "Dani?"

"You two know each other," I asked.

"Uh, no!" Danny let out that suspicious chuckle he always did when he told a lie. "Just, the symbol on her chest. That's _Danny_ Phantom's. Isn't it?"

I let out a light chuckle. I knew Danny was lying, but I wasn't sure why. The only logical explanation was he was lying on Dani's behalf, which I thought was sweet. I'd harass Dani about it later.

"Okay, Dani. Do your thing," I encouraged.

Dani closed her eyes, clearly nervous as two blueish-white rings formed around her waistline, trailing in opposite directions and changing her appearance from ghost girl to regular girl.

I couldn't blame her for being nervous. When I found out she was half-ghost, I almost killed her, although that was on Vlad's orders, who I thought was the good guy, not that that changes anything. I still used her to get to Danny Phantom and handed her over to a man that was out to kill her. If there was anything good that came out of it all, it was that I'd learned not everyone was who they said they were, and most definitely weren't who _others_ said they were.

Half the class wasn't even paying attention, but those who were, including Sam, Danny, and Tucker, were in complete shock.

"You all have heard of ghosts, I think it's time you learned of the existence of half-ghosts," I started. "They're half-human, half-ghost. I only just found Dani a couple weeks ago, and I got this infernal job right as I was getting ready to perform X-rays and blood work, so I don't know much about their genetic makeup, but I do know this from what Dani's told me. There are some half-ghosts that can use all their ghost powers while still in human form, meaning they're the perfect threat to mankind."

Dani turned to Danny, almost asking for his approval. That settled it. Danny and Dani knew each other, and I was going to find out how, and what their relationship was. I flinched at the thought. The Fenton Micro-Blasters. Ghost powers on the human plane. The Phantom jumpsuit. Danny _Fenton_. Danny _Phantom_. It was the only way he could've known about my ghost hunting life, and the only way he could know Dani and the fact that she was half-ghost.

I backed up into the teacher's desk.

"You okay, Val," Danny asked, letting out a slight gasp immediately after. I could've sworn there was a hint of blue to his breath. "I gotta go to the bathroom!" He ran out of the room like he was running from something.

Almost immediately after, the Code Emerald alarms started blaring: a ghost attack. Metal shutters draped over the windows and door. They still hadn't ghost proofed the metal shutters, and the ghost hunter that trapped me and Phantom in the Ghost Zone materialized next to Dani.

"At last, I have found my prey."

"Maybe you should focus less on your prey, and start _praying_ I show mercy!" Danny Phantom came phasing through the locked door and started attacking the hunter until it's rockets started up, seemingly against his will, and launched him out of the classroom.

How these kids supposed to feel safe when two ghosts could easily get into a school that was supposed to be ghost-proof during a code emerald, I do not know.

" _That_ was the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter?" Dani started mocking the ghost that was just there. Maybe it was because they'd gone through this sort of thing on a daily basis, or they'd seen things far worse, but I failed to understand how they could be so at ease literally minutes after their lives were in danger... maybe it was because ghosts didn't have to worry about that?

"Self-proclaimed," rallied Phantom.

I wasn't sure if my theory on Danny was right, or whether or not Sam and Tucker knew. I told myself I was preserving what was possiblly Danny Fenton's greatest secret, but in reality it was just my rage from Phantom's past actions getting the better of me. Red swirls of wind enveloped my body and my new and improved ghost suit formed around me, an ecto-cube hovering over my left shoulder.

"Get out of the way, Dani," I yelled as I charged up a purple ecto-blast at Phantom, throwing him into a desk.

Dani threw her arms up in attempt to block my shots. "Val, stop! It's Danny Phantom! The guy who helped you save me, remember?"

"I know." My voice was as deadly as my weapons.

Danny got back up from in between the two halves of desk he'd been fired into and synced with Dani's verbal onslaught. "What's your problem?"

"I just saved your whole class," Phantom argued.

I ignored Phantom in my rage and answered Dani's question, both finger and words pointed at Danny. "He sabotaged my dad's job, destroyed everything we owned, forced my family into a life of hardship and turned me into one of the losers at school. I lost all my friends. He even dislocated all the limbs on my old ghost hunting suit when it was being remote controlled. I would be dead if I were in there! _This_ Phantom is a menace." Each word that came out of my mouth felt like a punch to Phantom's stomach, though Dani seemed to be taking the hits more seriously than the recipient himself.

"No he's not! He's always been there for me, even when I was attacking him," retorted Dani. "Have you ever seen any cartoons? Clones are usually treated like monsters, with the original being creeped out and trying to get rid of them. Not Danny. There's no way he did those things, at least not intentionally."

If there was one thing the A-Listers were good at other than bullying, it was bad timing.

Dash walked up to me rubbing the back of his head, eyes filled with sorrow. "Hey, Valerie? We're sorry we were so hard on you, we didn't know you'd been through so much."

"I tried telling you, you didn't listen." I shifted all her remaining rage onto Dash.

"Yeah, they might've been terrible friends in the past, but everyone deserves a second chance," said Phantom.

Not even a moment ago, I was dumping on Danny Phantom, and here he was reinforcing my relationships and backing up the A-Listers. He was pretty mature for his age of death. Danny might've been the first "humane" ghost I'd ever met, and didn't even know it. Up until now, I've been attacking first and asking questions never. The same mentality that almost got Dani killed and kept Danny Phantom, the good guy, from doing his job, probably on multiple accounts.

I realized the severity of what Dash just did. He'd walked up to me while I was trigger-happy and in my ghost hunting gear. Either he was stupider than he let on, or he was as in sorrow as he looked. The former was impossible.

I looked back up at Phantom. "You know what, Phantom? Maybe you're not all bad."

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 **Sorry there wasn't as much Dani/Valerie bonding in this chapter :'(**

 **Please review and let me know what you thought until now (what you think I should do next)!**


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